A young rifle shooter Konica Layak was found hanging inside a women’s hostel at Bally in Howrah, West Bengal on Wednesday morning, police said.
The 28-year-old Layak — who was gifted a Walther Air Rifle by actor-turned philanthropist Sonu Sood earlier this year after he was briefed about her struggles — left a suicide note in which she wrote about failing to fulfill her parents’ dreams, an officer from the Bally police station said on condition of anonymity.
Konica had won a gold and silver at the Jharkhand State Shooting Championship.
Konica suffered a setback in October when she was disqualified for the National Championship at her first qualifying competition on charges of tampering the target, her coach and Olympian Joydeep Karmakar said.
“Sonu Sood sir, my rifle is here. There is a wave of happiness in my family and the entire village is blessing you. May you live long,” an elated Konica Layak had tweeted after receiving the rifle amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
This is the fourth case of death by suicide in the last four months, in the shooting fraternity, raising serious questions.
In September, Namanveer Singh Brar, who won a bronze at the World University Games, killed himself in Mohali. In October, national shooter Hunardeep Singh Sohal shot himself. Last week, 17-year-old Khushseerat Kaur Sandhu shot herself with her .22 pistol and died of a headshot wound. According to the family, the promising youngster was very unhappy with her performance in the recently concluded 64th National Shooting Championship (Pistol) in New Delhi.
@sonusood सर मेरी बंदूक़ आ गई।मेरे परिवार में ख़ुशी की लहर फैल गई है और पूरा गाँव आपको आशीर्वाद दे रहा है। जुग जुग जीयो @sonusood सर🙏 thank you @Govindagarwal_ bhai pic.twitter.com/TDk14WZeG3
— Konica Layak (@konica_layak) June 26, 2021
में आपको राइफल दूंगा।
आप देश को मेडल दे देना।
आपकी rifle आप तक पहुंच जाएगी। @SoodFoundation https://t.co/4JFXdrQl2l— sonu sood (@SonuSood) March 10, 2021
